Many common medical procedures involve closing tissue by the use of sutures. A suture is a strand or fiber which holds previously opened tissue shut after the suture is driven through the tissue by the use of a suture needle. The suture needle is a needle-like instrument with an extremely sharp point at one end and with the suture being attached to its other end. Suture needles vary in size and shape, and the choice of a particular size or shape of suture needle is dictated by the type of medical procedure to be performed. One common form of suture needle has an arcuate configuration. Using the suture needle in combination with a suture, medical personnel close tissue by sewing it together in much the same manner that two pieces of cloth are sewn together.
However, the use of a suture needle on living tissue obviously requires precautions which need not be followed when sewing non-living material. While working on living tissue, the suture and suture needle must at all times remain sterile to minimize the risk of infection to the patient. Since many common medical procedures require the surgeon to use a number of different tools, thereby requiring the surgeon to repeatedly put down one tool and pick up another, the surgeon must be careful to keep the suture needle in a sterile area as it is exchanged for another tool. Further, the suture needle, as well as other tools, must be readily at hand for the surgeon's instant use during the operation. This is not simply a matter of convenience, because the patient's safety may depend on a specific tool being quickly available if it should be needed. Therefore, the suture needle (and other instruments) must be placed on a convenient sterile surface during an operation so that they may be readily accessed by the surgeon, while maintaining the sterility of the operating area.
In addition, the surgeon must take care that he or she does not accidentally injure himself or herself with a suture needle that has been used to suture tissue. Since any patient could potentially carry a disease such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), even the smallest puncture wound can be life-threatening. The surgeon, who works with gloved hands to decrease the possibility of contamination, may have difficulty picking up the needle from a flat surface due to interference from the gloves and a corresponding partial loss of tactile sensation in the fingers. If the surgeon must expend effort by pushing the needle to align it into a position where it may be easily picked up, the opportunity for accidental puncture is increased. The chance of puncture is also increased if the surgeon must put down and pick up a suture needle (with a suture attached) several times during the course of an operation. A surgeon must therefore pay close attention to the handling of suture needles as well as to the patient undergoing the operation.
In the environment in which many medical operations take place, these requirements are inconvenient. During an operation, the surgeon must devote the bulk of his or her attention to the patient. The surgeon cannot afford to spend a great amount of time during the course of an operation repositioning the suture needle so that it may be easily found and so that it is certain to remain in a sterile environment. Further, the need for the surgeon's full attention to be focused on the patient fosters an environment in which the surgeon can become inattentive as to the handling of tools, thus increasing the risk of self-injury. Suture needles present an especially high risk of injury due to their small size and extreme sharpness. In view of these requirements, it would be helpful if a surgeon had a readily accessible surface or receptacle in which a suture needle could be placed which would shield the surgeon from accidental puncture while at the same time facilitating the surgeon's access to the needle. Examples of surgical needle containers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,496, 4,373,629, 4,596,329, 4,969,893 and 5,024,323. Such devices generally have not been convenient to use, or are not intended for temporary placement of a suture needle during an operation, and typically do not allow convenient reloading of the suture needle for the next stich. Devices intended to be used repeatedly during an operation often are inconvenient to use because they must be set to the side of the surgical area and may slip off the surgical drapes or be difficult to locate quickly when they are needed.